Lemon iced tea is the best way to enjoy the summer sun and bask in its glory. To work in the open backyard and sip a nice, cool cup is heavenly,
We’re right in the heart of summer. The sun is shining brighter than ever and lighting up our lives like never before. It is filling us up with the energy to really push ourselves, take up new projects, and generally, wake up from the hibernation mode which we were in a couple of months ago.
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Health Benefits
Lemon iced tea is a beverage that perfectly complements the hot summers. Not only does it restore your energy and improve your cardiovascular health, but it also fastens your metabolism, allowing you to stay happy, healthy, and productive.
This beverage also detoxifies your body. Meaning, it removes all the bad stuff that you absorb from the environment and expels it via a thorough cleansing process. It improves your skin texture, remedies oral inflammation, and smoothens your digestive function. It really is heaven in a cup!
The Need for a Perfect Pitcher
Do you know the secret trick to make the tastiest lemon iced tea? Get the best iced tea pitcher to do the job well, and that's it. If your pitcher is faulty, your tea will feel loose and not delicious at all.
What are the features of an excellent lemon tea pitcher? Good question.
The right jug to make the beverage in should be temperature resistant, first and foremost. In other words, it should not break when exposed to extremely high or extremely low temperatures.
Moreover, it should be anti-spillage, having an airtight lid that prevents leaking and ensuring durable storage in the refrigerator, so you can stay revitalized all day long.
Most importantly, it should be good to look at. You can’t serve lemon iced tea from a pitcher that has no appeal, after all.
So, strength, durability, and attractiveness are the key features you need to keep in mind.
Breaking Down Its Ingredients
Once you get your hands on the perfect pitcher, then shift your attention to making the yummiest blend at home. There are two ways you can go about this.
One, you can get a store-bought mixture, or two, you can make it from scratch. Which option should you go for?
If you are in a hurry, then a lemon iced tea sachet will serve you well in the nick of time. All it requires is a simple stirring. Throw the contents of the tea sachet in water and mix. Add ice and you’re done.
Though it is a faster method, it does not yield the depth of flavour that a homemade version gives, which is why we recommend you to make the refreshing lemon drink yourself. Don’t worry. It takes only 10 to 15 mixtures and minimal effort on your part.
Homemade Lemon Iced Tea Ingredients
So, what are the ingredients for a homemade version, you ask?
- 8 to 10 glasses of water
- 4 to 5 tea bags
- 2 large lemons
- ¾ cup of granulated sugar
- A pinch of baking soda
- Lots of ice cubes
These ingredients are easy to acquire and simple to use. They are also cost-effective and pocket-friendly, so you don’t have to fear landing in a cash crunch as you prepare your cooling beverage at home.
The Ultimate Recipe
Anyone can make lemon iced tea, whether young adults or elderly folk. Why? Because it is so simple to make and has the clearest directions, which don’t take up too much time, energy, or resources.
Here’s how you can prepare and serve it to your guests on a hot sunny day:
- Boil water in a pan or kettle. Take 4 to 5 glasses of water and add them to a pan or kettle over high flame. Let the water reach its boiling point after a good, long simmer. Remember, half-boiled water will not support the strong flavour of your lemon iced tea. Then, it needs to be just at the right temperature to crack open the real zest of the ingredients.
- Pour water into the pitcher. Once the water is boiled homogenously, then shift it to your iced tea jug from which you plan to serve. Make sure that the container is sturdy enough to bear the hot liquid. If you don’t have a temperature-resistant pitcher, you can use any heat-proof bowl to concoct and mix the ingredients.
- Add tea bags. This is the fun part. You can use any kind of teabag as a base for your lemon iced tea. Though most people prefer to go with black tea bags, other health-conscious people like to use green tea or matcha tea bags instead. You can also boost the taste with flavoured tea bags. Be careful while steeping the tea bags in the piping hot water. Keep their strings out of the pitcher for easier removal.
- Let the bags steep for about 10 minutes and then, remove them. The longer you allow the tea bags to sit in the water, the stronger will be the result. If you wish to have lighter lemon iced tea, then a 5-minute steep time will be more than enough. Once the wait time is up, use the strings to remove the soaked tea bags from the pitcher.
- Stir in sugar and baking soda. Now that your black tea is ready, it’s time to make it sweet. Add the prescribed amount of sugar slowly into the pitcher and stir constantly so it can gel in well. This is the point where you control the sweetness of the tea. You can make an extra-sweet lemon iced tea that balances perfectly with the tanginess of the lemon juice, or you can make an iced tea that’s more sour and tantalizing to your taste buds. However, baking soda is a hack that removes the cloudiness and the fizziness of the iced tea, making it crystal-clear and beautifully appealing to the eye. It doesn’t affect the taste, at all.
- Freshly squeeze the lemons and add the juice to the pitcher. You can use 2 large lemons or 5 to 6 smaller ones. Depends on how tangy you want your tea to be. Then, stir consistently, so the lemon extract, sugar, and tea become one.
- Pour in the rest of the water and ice cubes. Finally, add the remaining 4 to 5 glasses of regular or cold water into the pitcher, and throw in ice cubes. Mix well, and voila, your lemon iced tea is ready to drink!
Wrapping Up
Summer is incomplete without this refreshing drink. Use the recipe mentioned above to create the most refreshing drink ever to beat the heat. You’ll thank us.
Another great drink for summer is the fresh strawberry milk tea. Check out our guide on how to make it at home!
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